PPC Best Practices for Small to Mid Sized Businesses

If you've done any research into online marketing, you've probably come across PPC, or pay-per-click, marketing. There's a good reason for that. Statistics suggest businesses make $3 for every $1.60 they spend on PPC marketing using platforms like AdWords. It's a great buy for your money, but many of the published strategies were designed for much larger companies. Understanding what works for smaller companies in this arena is an absolute must before you get started. Here are a few best practices to consider as you open your PPC accounts.

It All Starts with Goals

Like any other form of marketing, you have to think about what your goals might be. If you want to increase your sales, set some hard numbers on that. How much are you going to increase sales? Maybe instead of a goal that direct, you'd rather go with something like getting more leads. Again, you'll want fairly hard numbers there. Without creating those goals in the beginning, it's hard to know if you're losing money or seeing real results from your PPC campaign.

Don't Cheap Out on Keywords

Most small businesses are tempted to start a PPC campaign by going a bit light with cheap keywords. Unfortunately, that's simply not the way to move forward. You're going to find plenty of clicks but fewer results. Don't shy away from a keyword just because it's expensive. They're expensive for a reason - they work well - and that alone may help keep your budget in check as your campaign continues.

Build Ad Groups

It's fairly common for businesses that have just started to use a single ad group. If you've done that, you're going to have trouble. Imagine, for example, you run a small auto service shop. When someone searches for car repair near me, instead of seeing an ad for repairs, they see your 50% off oil changes. It's not going to pull them in if they're looking for a repair shop. To avoid this problem, group your keywords in ad groups that gets the message in front of the right customer. Build unique ads for each add group that address your keywords specifically, and you'll capitalize on those results.

Use Relevant Landing Pages

If you want to use PPC as a form of advertising, you need landing pages that address your keywords. As you build each ad, build a landing page to match it. For example, if you're a local caterer, and you offer services for weddings, bar mitzvahs, and corporate events, you may want a PPC ad for each of those. You'll also want a landing page that addresses the needs of each of those types of customers.

Manage Your Own Bids

It's always tempting to choose automatic bidding, but the simple truth is that you lose control over your campaign the moment you do that. You could end up with a far higher cost than you'd initially intended unless you understand how to manage your bids. Many people suggest to set the bid for all of your keywords to the same amount, say $2, at the start of the day. Wait six hours, then evaluate that performance. Once you do, you can make the changes you need to make.

PPC Advertising

PPC advertising doesn't have to be difficult, but it may take a bit of work at the outset. Fortunately, we can help. Contact us today to manage all of your PPC campaigns.

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